Virginia Population by County, 2025 Census Estimates
Virginia population by county: July 2025 Census estimates for all 133, change since 2020, density and each official parcel map.
Looking for Virginia population by county or city? The Census Bureau estimates that Virginia had 8,880,107 residents on July 1, 2025, spread across 133 counties and independent cities. Fairfax County is the most populous, with 1,167,873 people (13% of the state), and Highland County is the least populous, with 2,318.
Virginia's 38 independent cities are separate from the counties around them, and the Census Bureau counts each one as a county equivalent, so they are listed alongside the counties here.
The table below lists every county and city with its 2025 estimate, its April 2020 starting point, the change, people per square mile, and a link to its official parcel viewer.
Percent change runs from the April 1, 2020 estimates base to July 1, 2025. People per square mile is the July 2025 estimate divided by the county or city's land area in the Census Bureau's 2020 Gazetteer file, so lakes and bays are left out.
How Virginia's population is spread out
Grouping the counties and independent cities by size shows how concentrated the state is:
Residents (July 2025)
Counties and independent cities
Total residents
Share of state
1,000,000 or more
1
1,167,873
13%
250,000 to 999,999
6
2,401,707
27%
100,000 to 249,999
11
1,859,077
21%
25,000 to 99,999
54
2,631,107
30%
10,000 to 24,999
44
713,574
8%
Under 10,000
17
106,769
1%
7 counties and independent cities with at least 250,000 residents hold 40% of the state's population.
Most and least densely populated
The most crowded counties and independent cities by people per square mile of land:
City of Alexandria: 10,757 per sq mi (160,662 people on 15 sq mi)
Arlington County: 9,383 per sq mi (243,931 people on 26 sq mi)
City of Falls Church: 7,409 per sq mi (15,159 people on 2.0 sq mi)
City of Manassas Park: 5,458 per sq mi (16,560 people on 3.0 sq mi)
City of Manassas: 4,504 per sq mi (44,332 people on 9.8 sq mi)
The most thinly settled:
Highland County: 5.6 per sq mi (2,318 people on 415 sq mi)
Bath County: 7.7 per sq mi (4,076 people on 529 sq mi)
Craig County: 15 per sq mi (4,800 people on 328 sq mi)
Bland County: 17 per sq mi (6,151 people on 358 sq mi)
King and Queen County: 21 per sq mi (6,743 people on 315 sq mi)
About these numbers
They are estimates. Between censuses the Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program updates county totals each year from births, deaths and migration records. The next full count is the 2030 census.
The base is April 1, 2020. The estimates start from an April 1, 2020 "estimates base" built from the 2020 census, which is why it is slightly different from the published census count.
Each new release revises the past. A newer vintage can change earlier years as well, so compare numbers from the same release, as this page does.
Statewide total. The counties and independent cities add up exactly to the statewide figure of 8,880,107 in the same file.
Using population numbers in a land search
Big counties and independent cities, busy offices. In the most populous counties and independent cities, parcel maps and deed records are usually online and searchable, but recording and permit offices are busier. Allow for that if you are on a deadline.
Small counties and independent cities, fewer sales. In counties and independent cities with only a few thousand people, land changes hands less often, so there are fewer recent sales to compare a price with. The county assessor's sales records are the best source.
Density hints at lot size. A low people-per-square-mile figure usually means farms, ranches and timber tracts; a high one means subdivided lots. The parcel viewer shows the actual parcel lines.
Check the official map. Use the parcel viewer link in the table for boundaries, parcel numbers and owner names, then confirm anything important with the county or city's recorder or assessor.